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Exhibiting at the NEC

The NEC, on the outskirts of the UK’s second largest city, Birmingham, is England’s largest exhibition venue.

It’s thrived as a leader of the exhibition industry in the UK and even Europe since its opening in 1976, growing from 89,000 sq m to now be over twice that size. The growth of the NEC seems unfazed by time, as the venue’s operator, NEC Group, recently reported a 17% increase in revenue over the past year. Read on to discover just how the NEC has flourished over the past four decades.

Check out a quick summary of the venue’s highlights!

Location, location, location

The NEC is strategically based in the suburbs of a major UK city, with a surprising amount of free space surrounding it, paving the way for the huge-scale expansion the venue has undergone since its opening. The infrastructure surrounding Birmingham allows for easy access to the venue from all over the UK and further afield, via Birmingham International Airport (1.5 miles), Birmingham International Railway Station (0.5 miles) and the city centre (10 miles). Based in the heart of the country, the NEC is the to go-to venue for exhibitions which pull attendees from all over the UK, whereas London is arguably better internationally connected so thrives on the international exhibitions. There’s still plenty of national exhibitions to fill the NECs 20 halls every week, though, with the venue hosting over 500 events and 6 million visitors per year.

The venue has systematically grown, piece by piece, expanding by one hall at a time. This layout perfectly suits the smaller scale national exhibitions the NEC plays host to, and allows for interconnecting halls to be used for co-located shows.

Resorts World Birmingham

Breadth of appeal

Also on site are an array of short and long-term leisure activities for visitors to the venue. The recent long-term leisure exhibition, Dinosaurs in the Wild, drew a unique crowd of visitors, who came for the dinosaurs, but stayed for the on site casino, cinema, restaurants, bars, hotels, shopping centre and spa which make up Resorts World Birmingham. The NEC Group have succeeded in nestling in with a wealth of leisure content, which makes their patch of land a destination, and no longer just a venue.

Recent growth

The recent spike in revenue reported by the exhibition venue may in part be thanks to an ongoing period of transformation, following its acquisition by the private equity firm LDC back in 2015. The new firm take data to heart, and study what visitors truly want and need from an exhibition venue, then succeed in delivering these elements. The venue has seen conscious improvements of accessibility in recent years, as well as a dedication to technological innovation including providing free WiFi to all visitors. The venue facilitates events of all sizes and can support everything from exhibitors with small banner stands to large TV display stands and 5m tall promotional flags.

UK Games Expo NEC

The growth of the NEC is also driven in part by the exhibition industry itself, so while the venue lost The Clothes Show in its rebrand and subsequent move to trendier Liverpool, they’ve also launched a number of new exhibitions this year including Automechanika Birmingham and The UK Games Expo. The massive, unparalleled scale of the NEC has forced the venue owners to remain abreast the industry and offer innovation, leisure and technology in an effort to fill its 20 halls and 30 conference rooms. We’re happy to say, though, that the NEC is well and truly succeeding, and that we predict another 40 years of growth for the, literal, exhibition giant!

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Ryan Farquharson

CEO & Co-founder

Ryan is the CEO at ExpoCart - the one stop shop marketplace for products and services for exhibitions and events. ExpoCart is here to make exhibiting easier, more affordable and hassle free all in one convenient place.
He is passionate about operations, sales management, digital marketing and event management.

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